South view of the 8th Pylon. The pylon is the first building
in ancient Egypt, which was completely made of sandstone.

Along the southern processional route to the temple of Luxor
the 8th Pylon was built by Hatshepsut or finished during her reign - if the
Pylon was already begun during the reign of her father, Thutmosis I, or her
husband, Thutmosis II.

The decoration of this pylon
is probably to be dated to the end of the reign of Hatshepsut (Martinez, "Le VIIIe pylone",
1993). This is in agreement with the writing of the throne-name of Thutmosis III, "Men-kheper-ka-Ra"
(see photo left), which according to Brovarski (JEA 62, 1976) is
testified only for the years of the co-regency
(years 5 - 20).

As mentioned by Grimal and Larché (see: Cahiers de Karnak XII, part 2, p.491,
2007) the pylon was - amazingly - never mentioned in the inscriptions of
Hatshepsut nor in those of Thutmosis III.

Cartouche reading "Men-kheper-ka-Ra" at the 8th pylon.

The pylon was built next to or probably replaced the "Great southern gate" built by Amenhotep I. Some
limestone blocks of this gate were recovered from the "Cour de la Cachette" (Grimal,
Larché, Cahiers de Karnak XII, loc.cit.). Today, a
lintel of the gate is exhibited in the Open Air Museum at Karnak and contains the specification of the gate height:
approx. 10 m). However, at least it has been dismantled by Thutmosis III when he erected the 7th Pylon.

In front of the southern side of the 8th Pylon a
several colossal statues had been erected, these are
discussed on a separate page.

Beside the statues the photo above
shows the damage of the pylon around the niches wherein the flagpoles
had been mounted. Not every pylon had have his flagpoles although the
niches intended for the flagpoles had been built. However, in some cases
the niches had been (deliberately ?) built in such a way that it was not
possible to mount the flagpoles.

Pylons which indeed had been equipped with
flagpoles - like the 8th Pylon of Hatshepsut - can frequently be recognized by
damage of their niches as demonstrated by the photo above. These
devastations result from conquests after the end of the New Kingdom -
the conquerors liked to set fire to the flagpoles! As a result of the
developing heat the stone at the corners of the niches had burst.

Inside the eastern wing (i.e. at the side of the
"Holy Lake") of the pylon a staircase leads to the central bridge
connecting the two wings of the pylon..
However, since the bridge over the gate of the pylon has been destroyed the
stairs end up suddenly (see photo below). Thus, the staircase is closed to
avoid any danger.

Both sidewalls of the staircase surprise with graffiti
from later times. These graffiti shows ceremonies performed in front of
the 7th Pylon built by Thutmosis III. For sure, not everybody was
privileged enough to attend the ceremonies at the court in front of the
pylon, i.e. the majority of the people had been kept back at the 8th
Pylon. These graffiti were most likely carved into the walls by visitors
who were allowed - most likely as today after giving some baksheesh - to
enter the roof of the pylon and to view the ceremonies from there.

What the visitors had seen from the roof or the bridge of the 8th Pylon
had been the view of the 7th Pylon, built by Thutmosis III, as shown in
the model below.

The jambs of the southern entrance had been decorated in the names of Thutmosis
II (west side) and Thutmosis III (east side; see the cartouche of "Men-kheper-ka-Ra"
above). The lintel (a part of the bridge of the pylon) has vanished.